屬靈講道集 第 1 章 第 34/36 段

For if, as we have said before, one does not struggle to renounce the world and free himself from earthly desires with his whole heart, and does not wholly and entirely desire to devote himself to the Lord, he does not recognize the hidden struggle with the spirits of wickedness and the hidden passions of evil, but is estranged from himself, since he does not know that he has hidden wounds and passions, and is ignorant of them, because he is bound to visible things and willingly held fast by the affairs of the world.

For to him who has truly renounced the world, and has struggled and cast away from himself the burden of the earth, and of vain occupations, and of desires, and of fleshly pleasures, and of glory, and of rule, and of human honors — having lifted himself up and withdrawn from all these with his whole heart — in this contest the Lord secretly helps him according to the measure of the will of his renunciation of the world; and having taken his stand in the service of the Lord, and having devoted himself wholly and entirely (I mean, in body and soul), he finds opposition and hidden passions and invisible bonds and unseen warfare and contest and hidden combat. And so, having besought the Lord in faith and having taken up the weapons of the Spirit from heaven, which the blessed apostle listed — the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, and the sword of the Spirit — being thus armed, he will be able to stand against the hidden stratagems of the devil in these present evil days.

Having procured these weapons through all prayer and perseverance and supplication — and the whole of it through faith — he will be able to overcome the war against the principalities and powers and the world-rulers; and thus, having conquered the opposing powers through the working of the Holy Spirit and his own zeal in every virtue, he will be counted worthy of eternal life unto the boundless ages of ages.

He who truly wishes to give himself over to the Lord for the sake of the coming promise of the kingdom, since the evil one contends against him in every way and wages war against every soul in various ways, ought above all to take up firm faith and steadfast hope, so that through these he may be able to quench the fiery darts of the evil one.

But the adversary does countless things, wishing to enervate the resolve and to tear it away from the hope and love toward the Lord, warring against the soul in various ways: either bringing inward afflictions through the spirits of wickedness, or sowing loathsome, vain, and filthy thoughts, and calling to mind former sins, condemning the soul, so as to bring the resolve into slackness, as though it were impossible to attain salvation — so as to bring the soul into despair, as though it were the soul itself that, through vain and evil thoughts, generated these absurdities in the heart, and not the alien one sowing them in it; this being suggested by wickedness, which does not wish it to be known that there is, together with the soul, an alien worldly spirit of deception belonging not to God, working to bring the soul to despair.

...attempts to wage war, let the person not depart from hope toward the Lord, but rather cling to him all the more at every turn, as the only one who is good and compassionate and able to heal the infirmities of the soul, always loving him and reasoning thus within himself:

If you turn away from God and from the right way of the ascetic life, it is impossible for you to go anywhere else except, perhaps, to perdition and Gehenna, giving yourself over to the counsels of the evil one. So then, even if the evil one hurls at each of the brethren countless swords of the fiery darts of evil passions and of absurd and wicked reasonings every day, in order to enervate them and turn them away from the path of righteousness and bring them into despair, let each rather take refuge and hope in God, because it is thus that the Lord wishes the souls that flee to him to be tested, so that men may truly come to be known — that, having hated all things, they loved God alone; and having suffered many evils at the hands of wickedness so as not to draw near to God and fulfill his will, they acquired all the more longing for him, disdaining countless deaths, loving him alone, and desiring to inherit him, and counting all their zeal and toil and struggle every day as a small thing, as if unable to do anything worthy of the goods that are hoped for.

For a thousand years of this age, compared to the eternal and incorruptible world, is like taking a small grain of sand from all the sand of the sea; so boundless and infinite is the age of the righteous and the kingdom of the heavens.

Souls, then, who strive with such understanding and endure with such hope, holding fast through all afflictions, firmly, on account of their hope toward the Lord, will not be put to shame, but will be found approved in trials, according to what is said:

"Who shall separate us from the love of God? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" — and so forth. And again:

"Tribulation produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope." And the Lord says:

"In your endurance you will possess your souls." And again:

"He who endures to the end will be saved." So then, all the afflictions brought upon men by the evil one, if they endure them nobly with hope and patience, become for them a source of support and firmness, and render them all the more approved.

If they should make you alone king of the whole earth, and bring to you alone the treasures of the whole inhabited world, and if you alone were to reign and hold sway over the world, from the time the human race was created until the end of the age, you would then be exchanging that which is not true, not eternal, and not unending life, for the kingdom of the heavens, which has no end of its reign and no succession.

It is clear that, if you judge with a sound mind, you will say:

"Far be it from me to exchange the corruptible kingdom for the incorruptible and unending kingdom." As the Lord himself has said:

"For what does it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, but loses his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" So that the soul alone is more precious and more valuable than the whole world, and its kingdom, and riches, and glory — not that the kingdom of the heavens is any less honorable, but rather in this respect: that God was pleased to unite and share his own nature, through the Spirit, with none of the creatures — not with heaven, not with the sun, not with the moon, not with the stars, not with the sea, not with the earth, not with any other of the visible creation — but only with man, who loves him above all.

...for such things — as some desire of the world, or vain glory, or some shameful gain? For whatever a man loves of this age, and whatever worldly and corruptible thing he is bound to, that is what he trades in exchange for the kingdom of the heavens.

For whatever a man loves, that is his god, as it is said:

"By whatever a man is overcome, to that he has also been enslaved."

For it is necessary that he who truly reaches after eternal life and has desire for the kingdom of the heavens should become superior to and greater than all things of this age, and should transcend all worldly boundaries and all earthly glory, and should burst asunder all the bonds of matter, and should love only the heavenly glory of Christ, mingling nothing else with that love, and love nothing of this present life.

For those who have truly taken up the genuine love of God cut off every other love as with a two-edged sword, and burst asunder every bond of matter, and none of the visible things is able to hold that soul fast — not any pleasure, not glory, not riches, not fleshly bondage, nor any material thing — but the soul that loves God alone loves, together with him, nothing else of this age.

It belongs, then, to great and mighty struggles and labors to reap the great promises of eternal life.

For it is necessary that one give himself over wholly and entirely to God, as it is written:

"with the whole heart and power and strength," and with the whole will and mind — to hang himself up and to crucify himself in soul and body continually and unceasingly in all the holy commandments, so that he may be able to obtain the life promised to those who love God, and be counted worthy of the eternal kingdom.

For if, in the earthly, corruptible, and passing kingdom, great sweats and toils and labors and hardships are accomplished, so that those who reach after these things may be able to advance and come to some honor or glory of a passing rule, how much more, for the sake of the eternal and unaging kingdom, is it fitting to labor with all eagerness and with joy, in order to inherit such incorruptible glories?

Does it then seem right to you that earthly affairs and passing, corruptible glories should require such great toils and labors, while, in order to acquire the incorruptible and eternal things and to reign with Christ, it should not be fitting to labor and strive even for a short time? I think that even to a person of very meager understanding it appears right that it is better to contend and struggle for a little while, in order that one may carry off victory for eternity, than, having failed to act bravely for a little while, but instead having become slack and having lived turned toward earthly pleasures, to bear away defeat and shame for the ages.

For whenever someone devotes himself to good works and occupies himself with the things spoken of by the Scriptures, all discourses, whether Scriptures or treatises, and even the books of the pagan philosophers, cry out concerning this, and praise this man, and exalt him, and every tongue bears witness concerning him who continues, by his very deeds, in the precepts of the Scriptures.

For he is truly wise before God who always resists his own evil desires.

For he who boasts only in the wise words of the world, and does not subject his own desires, is reckoned altogether unwise and foolish, because he shows himself to be governed by irrational passions.

The man of God, therefore, ought not to give himself over to much talking, but rather to attend to the work of truth, and to be engaged in and occupied with the practices commanded by the holy Scriptures.

For indeed, all the words of the divine Scriptures and of the wise and of the worldly laws have spoken in favor of good works, and have appointed punishments against wicked practices. You, therefore, when you continue in good works of virtue and in good and honorable conduct, behold, everyone speaks about you, offers praise, and proclaims your memory.

Let us be diligent, then, always to conduct ourselves in the commandments of the Lord, hoping to receive the inheritance of such great goods, and let us always have expectation of the participation of the Spirit, so that, being sanctified in soul and body from this time forth, through the participation of the Spirit — all the commandments having been fulfilled by us — we may become worthy of Christ, becoming sons and heirs of God, and joint heirs of Christ, according to the apostolic word, and may be able to enjoy the eternal goods together with Christ, unto the ages of ages.

What is the economy of the Savior's coming? The first and greatest is the restoration and gift of pure nature.

For he restored to men the nature of the first-formed Adam, and further granted them the heavenly inheritance of the Holy Spirit.

God, then, has ordained a great and marvelous grace for the human race, delivering them from the prison of darkness, and showing them a way of life and a door, through which, having knocked, we may enter into the kingdom, freed from the bonds of the devil.

"Ask, and it will be given to you."

Through this door, then, everyone who wishes to flee the darkness can obtain redemption.

For there he finds the freedom of the soul, and recovers its thoughts, and acquires Christ, the heavenly king, and will have him as a bridegroom remaining with him in the communion of his Spirit.

Behold, then, the love of the Master and his grace toward his own children, toward man who was made according to his image.

And it is now time for me to relate his greatest economy by way of an illustration, and, taking up the problem, I shall present to you more clearly what has been said.

Let there be set before you, by way of a clear illustration, a very great and royal city, which foreigners, or a tyrant, or an unjust king, besieged — one who, having forced his way into a kingdom and city that did not belong to him, and having entered it, enslaved its inhabitants by force; and he raised up for himself towering fortifications and strong walls, hard to overcome, warring against the rightful king and master; and he built houses and set up images of himself, and laws of his own opposed to the first king, and minted his own coinage and currency in it, and brought garrisons of soldiers into the city, in order to subdue the inhabitants and to guard the city, lest they should escape and go out from his tyranny, but rather so that he might hold them as slaves and subjects, forcing them by violence and constraint to do his own work.

Then, after much time has passed, and these have held the city securely, and its inhabitants have been reduced to slavery, the king, the rightful lord of the besieged, comes; and, having sent word before him, he made his arrival known to them, and he came to know whether they welcomed his coming and the deliverance; and thus, knowing their intent, he brings destruction upon the unjust ruler.

...and being pleased with his loyal servants.

Thus, from the beginning, has man suffered:

For God formed him with his own hands, a glorious, rational creature; then, by guile and deceit, the terrible serpent, the enemy of the true King, through disobedience, entered into the city of God, and took the soul captive, and subjected the whole commonwealth of its thoughts, and quarried for it filthy thoughts, and built for it a city of wickedness, concerning which the apostle says:

"Who will deliver me from this body of death?" And it raised up towering thoughts against the knowledge of the heavenly King, and built strongholds of unjust reasonings speaking against the Most High, and fashioned unjust houses full of unbelief, injustice, vainglory, desire, wickedness, envy, bitterness, and fornication.

Such houses foreigners have built within the soul, as the psalmist says:

"The darkened places of the earth were filled with houses of iniquity." And he made a covenant against the King — the law of sin — and set up there dark images full of manifold torments, and minted in it worthless and abominable coinage, and taught it the customs of wickedness, and brought into it garrisons of hordes and wicked spirits, in order to hold it fast, together with all the thoughts within it, and bind it with unbreakable chains, and guard it with iron bars and bronze gates, and compel it by force to do his own work and according to his own wicked will.

He corrupted her, and committed terrible fornication with her, and placed a veil over her eyes, so that she might not see her true master; and he forced her to grind in a dark mill, dragging her down into the cares of life and into fleshly, material, and earthly mindsets, and brought forth for her a spring of mire gushing with iniquity, and with shameful imaginings, and with spirits of wickedness.

They scattered and enslaved her people, the throng of thoughts within her, and stripped her of the garment of glory, and clothed her with rags of dishonor and impurity.

They filled her with gall and bitterness; and, because of her long-standing habit and the great length of time of her confinement, she no longer remembered her own king, nor her ancient freedom, but supposed that she had been such from the beginning.

For this reason the heavenly King Christ sent first, through the holy prophets, reminding man of his nobility, and related and taught him his own dignity, and how he was living in a squalid and bitter bondage, and announced the good news that he himself would come and would redeem his soul from those who held it captive, and would raze and destroy the whole city of wickedness and the strongholds and the towering heights of the wicked reasonings that stand against the knowledge of God, and would change its laws, and would destroy those in it who stood against the King, and would level to the ground the images of darkness that were in it, and would obliterate the spring of mire and of unclean thoughts, and would utterly destroy all those who held it captive.

But He promised also to renew her according to His own will, and to establish in her a peaceful and God-inspired law, and simply to change the customs of the wickedness that is in her — only if the soul, remembering herself and her own Master, flees for refuge to Him, and gives Him her whole will, and presents to Him her whole purpose, and believes what He promised her, and beseeches Him, crying out to Him night and day, that she may be delivered from the evil and shameful slavery and dread captivity.

And as many as believed in Him and fled to Him for refuge were redeemed; and indeed every soul that believes and entreats Him, and recognizes its own captivity, if it confesses its weakness — that of itself it is unable to obtain redemption and to escape the slavery of the devil — and entreats with pain of heart, receives Christ the King as He comes and executes vengeance and overturns the constructions and devices of the evil ruler.

The whole city of wickedness built by the tyrant, Christ simply lays waste and destroys, and there builds for Himself a city of God, with towers and heights against the enemy's cunning knowledge, and unbreakable and unconquerable fortifications; and He builds in her divine buildings of faith, love, joy, and hope; and in that very soul He quarries and sows thoughts and notions pleasing to God, and lays down in her the laws of the Holy Spirit, and gives her tested silver refined seven times, and raises up in her a heavenly image of divine light, and makes in her a fountain of pure and living water, leaping up into eternal life, welling forth peace and goodness and joy; and He brings into her encampments of the holy powers to guard her, according to what is said:

"The angel of the Lord will encamp round about those who fear Him, and will deliver them." And He clothes her with heavenly garments, and gives her the freedom of her own thoughts, that in them she may serve her own King; and He betroths her as a bride pleasing to Himself, and shares with her divine communion, imparting to her of the substance of His goodness; He fills her with the Holy Spirit, and gives her all fragrance and rest instead of the years in which she was humbled and shut up under the king of darkness; and He reigns over her in a peaceful kingdom.

These gifts the compassionate God has bestowed from now on, having made known the way and the door, at which, if we knock, we find His great and wonderful beneficence.

Double, then, are His gifts: for He receives the soul of the man into that joy which Adam had before the disobedience, together with all her thoughts; and He has the heavenly King dwelling in her as bridegroom.

This was the double portion which Joseph received from his father, and the double inheritance which Jacob spoke of: "the portion of the field which I acquired with my bow and my sword."

For with reference to the Lord it is understood thus: that He already possessed as His inheritance the angels and all the saints of heaven; but having come and become man, He warred against the opposing power and mastered sin in the flesh, and took as His inheritance the inheritance of men, by bow and sword.

And even now He Himself wars within us and on our behalf against wickedness, and takes us to Himself as a pleasing inheritance.

But with reference to man, we understand a double inheritance thus:

He receives back the first-formed man together with all the thoughts by which he serves God; and also his true and ineffable inheritance, Christ dwelling in us and enlightening and guiding us, as His divine Spirit knows how, and interceding for us, according to the apostle:

"We do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be uttered."

For formerly the soul was held under the dread captivity of the dread spirit, the ruler of darkness.

Scripture, then, speaks mystically:

"A voice was heard in Rama, lamentation and much wailing:"

"Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they were not."

Now this, in the visible sense, took place at the time of the Lord, when the children were slain by Herod; but in the hidden sense it is understood thus:

The true mother, the heavenly grace, the Holy Spirit, wept bitterly over the captivity of men, those who were under the evil ruler and dreadfully fettered in darkness;

And she wept because they were not in the life of the Spirit, in the light of goodness.

But when the Lord was pleased, in His great goodness, and poured out His Spirit upon those who believe, and begot them of His own Spirit, then exultation and joy and gladness came to pass in the heights of the heavens before the angels of God, according to what is written:

"So there will be joy in heaven over one sinner who repents."

Because the heavenly mother, Jerusalem, who was formerly barren, has borne the children of men, which formerly were not in her, according to what is said:

"But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is the mother of us all."

And even now, if anyone has not been born of the heavenly mother, but still bears the image of the old man, and is under the veil of the darkness of sin, and under captivity and bitter slavery, and is still bound in the bonds of sin, he raises up dreadful mourning and lamentation for the mother Rachel, the heavenly city of the saints.

For she grieves, seeing men lying in eternal death and bound with unbreakable fetters, and especially now that the time of redemption is at hand.

For this compassionate mother has called all men, and desired to bear them through herself, and to make them heavenly.

For this reason she sent forth heralds, calling all and urging them to be born of her; and as many as believed and hoped and loved the light rather than the darkness obtained the promise and the divine regeneration.

Practice stillness in words, and stillness in deeds, and likewise in laughter and in your gait;

and flee from rash vehemence.

For thus the mind will remain steadfast, and will not, becoming agitated through vehemence, be weak and stunted in prudence and in the discernment of the obscure things of the intellect; nor will it be overcome by gluttony, nor be overcome by boiling anger, nor be overcome by the other passions;

presenting himself to them as ready plunder.

For indeed it is fitting that the mind should rule over the passions, sitting on high upon a quiet throne, looking toward God.

Be neither sluggish in works, nor slothful in words, nor filled with indolence in your steps, so that a good rhythm may adorn your stillness, and your bearing may appear God-like and, as it were, spiritual.

And guard also against the marks of pride: a haughty bearing, a head held high, and a soft, lofty step.

Let your words to those you meet be gentle, and your greetings sweet; let there be modesty toward women, and your gaze turned down toward the ground.

Speak all things circumspectly, and give due measure to your voice, gauging your utterance to the need of the hearers, so that it may be clearly audible, and neither escape the hearing of those present through faintness, nor exceed due bounds by loudness of outcry.

Take care that you never say anything which you have not first considered and thought through; and do not listen carelessly, but also do not interject your own words in the midst of another's speech.

For one must listen and converse in turn, apportioning speech and silence by time.

Learn gladly, and teach without grudging; never through envy hide your wisdom from others, nor cease to learn.

Begin wisdom and virtue with yourself.

Do not be contentious toward your friends, nor a mocker of them, nor a buffoon.

Avoid falsehood and deceit and insolence with all your strength;

and bear even the arrogant and the insolent man with good words, meekly and magnanimously.

Let all things be hung upon God — both deeds and words — and refer all that is yours to Christ, and turn your soul frequently toward God, and rest your understanding upon the power of Christ, as in a harbor, resting in the divine light of the Savior from all speech and action.

By day, share your understanding with men; but with God, often during the day, and for the greater part during the night.

Let not much sleep, then, prevail over prayers and hymns to God;

for long sleep is akin to death.

Continue every day doing or saying something good to men, and always become a partaker of Christ, who shines forth His divine radiance from heaven;

and let Christ be your continual and unceasing gladness.

Do not relax the tension of the soul in feasting and in the loosening of drinking bouts, turning away from those delights that are proper to the mind, of which there is no satiety; but consider what is necessary sufficient for the body, and do not hasten toward food before the time for the meal has come.

Let bread be your evening meal, and let the herbs of the earth take first place, and the fruits of trees in season.

Go to your food with steadiness, and do not display a ravenous gluttony;

and do not be a devourer of flesh nor a lover of wine, except when the cure of some illness leads to these.

But instead of the pleasures found in these things, choose the gladness that is in divine words and hymns, and in the wisdom supplied to you by God.

Let heavenly care always lead you up toward heaven;

and let go the many anxieties about the body, having confidence in your hopes toward God, that He will provide for you sufficiently the necessary things — food for life, and covering for the body, and protection against the cold of winter;

for indeed all the earth belongs to your King, and all that grows out of the earth.

He is destined to care exceedingly for His own servants, and tends them as though they were His own sanctuaries and temples.

Therefore do not fear illnesses exceedingly, nor the onset of old age expected in due time;

For illness too will cease, whenever it seems good to your King, and whenever this is good for your soul (and old age will enfold you as with wings, wrapping you about with divine protecting power).

Knowing these things, and being of good courage even against the violent diseases of the soul, like some excellent contestant in the stadium who unwaveringly endures the toils by his strength, do not let your soul be greatly oppressed by grief.